Occasional thoughts and deeds of an Engineer
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  • Akismet & Stats

    Posted on November 30th, 2008 cwmoore No comments

    After church we went to Coldwater to look at some boots for SAM.  A couple different types were tried and we found one that fit.  The type was Irish Setter and they were all camo’d (made by Red Wing).  What more could you ask for right?  No – someone had their heart set on Sears boots.  Well, you can lead a horse to water but …  You know the rest of the line.

    After spending several hours at this, we returned to home and the Author started to work on adding Akismet & Stats to the blog.  This has been pretty successful on my other blogs so I thought I would try it here.  This way I can open up comments without a ton of SPAM.  Here we go.

     I’ll have to depart pretty soon so we can make the evening service.  Earlier in the week I received the IBM T23 Notebook I had ordered for Jim V.  I installed a lot of pertinent programs that I thought he could use.  Mind you, Jim is completely unschooled in the use of the computer and software.  I will have several weeks of tutorials to take him through at dinner at the hospital.  It is worthy of note that I installed Thunderbird as his email client:  the computer was advertised as having Outlook 2002 (and it did have it installed) but there was no COA for the install and it choked when I tried to update it.  This is the first time I have come across an illegally installed copy.  Weird results.  Maybe I can purchase a COA for it for a decent price.  Or maybe I should install OpenOffice?  I ask him what he wants to do.

    Got to go now.  Adios Lector.

  • From NOAA today.

    Posted on November 29th, 2008 cwmoore No comments
    ...POTENTIAL WINTER STORM SUNDAY AND MONDAY...
    
    INDICATIONS CONTINUE TO POINT TO THE POTENTIAL FOR A WINTER STORM
    ACROSS THE AREA LATE THIS WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH
    ACCUMULATING SNOW EXPECTED ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE WESTERN GREAT
    LAKES AND OHIO VALLEY REGION. HOWEVER...THE EXACT TRACK OF THIS
    DEVELOPING SYSTEM REMAINS UNCERTAIN AND WILL DICTATE THE LOCATION
    AND AMOUNTS OF POSSIBLE SNOWFALL ACCUMULATION. SINCE IT IS THE
    HOLIDAY WEEKEND...ANYONE WITH PLANS TO TRAVEL ACROSS THE REGION
    LATER SUNDAY INTO MONDAY SHOULD MONITOR FUTURE FORECASTS AND BE
    AWARE OF THIS POTENTIAL SNOWSTORM.
    
    THIS STATEMENT IS AN OUTLOOK TO HIGHLIGHT THE POSSIBILITY OF A
    SIGNIFICANT WINTER STORM. AS INFORMATION AND LOCATION BECOMES MORE
    CERTAIN...WINTER STORM WATCHES AND WARNINGS MAY BE ISSUED. YOU
    SHOULD BEGIN THINKING ABOUT PREPARATIONS NOW...WELL BEFORE THE EVENT
    IS SET TO BEGIN. TAKE TIME TO ORGANIZE A PLAN OF ACTION AND CREATE A
    PREPAREDNESS KIT WITH SUPPLIES SO YOU ARE NOT CAUGHT OFF GUARD.
  • Thanksgiving Past

    Posted on November 29th, 2008 cwmoore No comments

    We hosted the Thanksgiving dinner again this year.  Everything ran smoothly until the cutting of the turkey.   Lee and I first drained the fluids from the cooking bag and then proceeded to cut up the turkey.  Of course, that went like clockwork, with the precision honed by years of cutting turkey.  Then came the ham – same procedure.  The we were ready.

    Next came the prayer and we dove into the food as it was near 1300 hrs.  The preparation of the food was very good and we want to thank SAM and anyone else that was up and at it about 0600 hrs.  After the feast came the dishes and we put those in the new dishwasher. Lee took a nap, the young ladies talked and so did the mothers.  All too soon everyone started departing.  We had 12 souls in attendance this year from all sides of the family.

  • WalMart tonight

    Posted on November 22nd, 2008 cwmoore No comments

    We went to WalMart to night and I was somewhat surprised to see a woman in full Burka.  The accompanying man looked to be Middle Eastern and sort of rough.  I think I heard that some Iraqi refuges were brought into the community. None of the college students or wives wear these.

    It was cold out tonight – in the lower 20’s.  Expect teens tonight.

  • http://www.change.gov/page/s/economy

    Posted on November 22nd, 2008 cwmoore No comments

    My thoughts. 

     Jobs:  If GM is allowed to go under , pulling Ford and of course Chrysler, the Indiana, Michigan and Ohio should be declared disaster areas.  The President-elect’s 2.5 million jobs will all come from this one arena.  Think deflation as the loss of this many jobs will devastate the whole USA with the Great Lake area as the spear point.  Please legislate a bridge loan to protect these icons of the United States of America.

    National Health Plan:  Everyone talks about the bad aspects but I think a NHP can succeed and be viable.  Move the autoworkers from GM to the NHP to make the automotive industry more competitive.  Move Medicare and Medicade in also.  Sure it will mean higher taxes in the long run but it will be worth the peace of mind knowing that a run of bad luck will not wipe a person out of a life savings.  I would rather pay a little at a time over a lifetime than have it all go at once:  Think of it as a Saving Plan.

    Saving:  Reward people saving money for old age via a 401K or 401K like saving plan that is tax free.  I was in the start of the 401K era.  I saved every year since then and have a reasonable nest egg.  Terminate the 70.5 years age forced drawout.  Why force it since people are living longer and may need the money when they are real old.

    Israel:  Support

    NAFTA:  Support, with some changes, Mexico and Latin America.  They are our best trading partners.  We will need them to help stoke the fire and bring the USA back to burning.  Canada.  same.

    May God bless your Presidency!

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m17pz0R_qZo

  • Lots to post

    Posted on November 21st, 2008 cwmoore No comments

    Man, has it really been a week since I wrote anything for this blog?  I have been fairly active and been put through some trials – you try to ditch a nagging, bad habit!  Anyway, it appears to have been done with the help of Jesus.  Allergies persist.

    Today I went to Caruso’s for a luncheon for a South African missionary who is working in Mozambique up by Maupula.  He has translated the New Testament into the local dialect of the Makhua Xirima peoples (about a million souls).  He was an interesting guy who can read early Greek and Hebrew fluently plus Portuguese, Afrikaans and English (and others).  His stories were realistic and full of interest.

    Today we also received our new dishwasher – a Kitchen Aid – and it was installed by the time I returned.  It is black and under-the -counter type.  Interestingly it takes much longer for a full cycle than the 30 year old one that broke.  The new is certainly not of equivalent value and I doubt it will last 30 years  without repair.

    Earlier in the week I did about 6 Geocaches and would like to continue on that path for a while.  I have been staying inside too much and I feel cabin fever very strongly.  I do get out on Wednesday where I am outside security for the church children (about 100 on any given Wednesday) but need some daylight time outside to get the vitamin D from the sun.  I need it! Here are some Geocaching photos in Steuben County, Indiana. [slideshow=4]

  • Flying Inflatable Boat

    Posted on November 15th, 2008 cwmoore No comments

    I was going to add this last night but I became too tired to write.  This is from YouTube and is real.  You can purchase one from a guy up by Detroit for between $26K – $35K.  Thse are really cool toys for the people who like their things to fly.  Since I have been a pilot for over 40 years I would love to have this toy.

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1OZz_HQL_Q&NR=1

  • Facebook

    Posted on November 15th, 2008 cwmoore No comments

    I spent the morning updating the Facebook personal information and inviting a few people to be friends.  The use of Facebook looks a little convoluted and it will take a little time to learn the terms,e.g. My Wall.  I tried to upload a .jpg twice but could not find where it was located – it could be a corrupted file and was discarded as I saved it from a .psp (Paint Shop Pro) to a .jpg – so I gave up on that.

    I do not know if I will find value with Facebook or just use my blog at http://charleswmoore.org/wordpress/index.php .  With the new plugins I can generate albums / galleries and add links to YouTube easily.  I digress.  I generated a Facebook account only because I wanted someplace to put the “Class of 63” pictures I took this summer and wanted it to be available to classmates without using Classmates.com

    My son says to Lighten Up.  So I will start by adding some tags to my  blog(s).  This little article will be Facebook & Charles W Moore.

  • Continual Rain

    Posted on November 14th, 2008 cwmoore No comments

    I spent some of the day working on a page of the ITSMichigan website.  There is a new committee – Outreach – that will govern the website.  While needed, I liked doing my own thing when and how I felt like it.  All that is about to change.  My code is mostly hand done and I got better as I went along.  Much later I added CSS to generate 1, 2 and 3 column.  I continue to do most of my theme and formatting with CSS and “style”.  What needs to be done is to take the present level of knowledge and generate a new site.  Somehow I do not have the heart to start completely over from scratch.  However, I feel compelled to continue since I breathed life into the site more that 5 years ago.

    I just surfed the net for the rest of the day.  I called my son in Texas but forgot about the time difference and got him at work.  Later I called but he did not answer.  I finally got a call through but he couldn’t talk because he had a friend over and was working out.

    I pieced my way through dinner and finally went to McDonalds for a Cheeseburger & a cup of coffee.  I got both but forgot to tell them I wanted decaf so I ended up pouring it down the sink.  I made some decaf at home.

    So much for the ramblings of an old man with a low key site.  I must admit I enjoy developing the site and adding plugins to WordPress more than the writing.  It keeps my mind occupied.

  • A good afternoon at last

    Posted on November 13th, 2008 cwmoore No comments

    Since the last post we have had bad weather but this afternoon there was some sunshine!  It was a great afternoon (1) Updated the ITS Michigan Membership page, (2) My westerly neighbor mulched his and the westerly neighbors leaves, and (3) the sun shown all afternoon with no rain.  Thus far this year there has been no strong west wind to blow the westerly neighbors leaves over to us and to make things better it has been wet so the leaves are heavy.  Only 20 or so loads of leaves thus far and the trees are almost totally bare. Yea!

    Last night I spen from 1900 to 2100 hrs outside in the rain directing kids and traffic.  I had on my lime green vest with the reflective tape.  Why you ask?  Well, the Pastor wanted a couple of volunteers to reduce the number of children darting between cars at the Wednesday night studies.  There are a lot of children from 3 to 19 years old running around – I would estimate about 75.  It was a good night to start this new safety program as it was dark and rainy.  I worked out pretty good except the children did not listen to an old man too well.

    I did not sleep well at all last night.  I am not too sure why.  Hope I get some sleep tonight.